• Windsor Boys School, Hamm, Germany
  • Windsor Boys School, Hamm, Germany

    Windsor Boys School,
    Hamm, Germany

    Originally a barracks called Argonner Kaserne on Soester Straße, Hamm, Nordrhein-Westfalen and built in 1936, the British took control and renamed it Brixton Camp. At first the camp housed German and Austrian POW's and then went on to be the base for the Polish 61st Tank Transporter Unit.

    In 1953 Brixton Camp reopened as Windsor School which was a mixed boarding school and stayed that way until 1960 when it became the male only Windsor Boys School (WBS). The nearby Newcastle Barracks opened up as Windsor Girls School (WGS).In 1980 WBS became mixed again and then finally closed its gate in 1983.

    All visitors please report to the Watchman
    WBS Dining Block Remains
    Remains of the Dining Block. (2020)
    Photograph courtesy of Chris Brooking

    After seeing images online showing the remains of Windsor Boys School / Windsor school in Hamm, like many others that went to the school between 1953 and 1983 there was a real disappointment that it won't be there anymore. I never really had the chance to go back to Hamm and have a look at the old buildings and always thought they would have been converted into apartments or something else. No chance of that and all that was left was this pile of debris from the Dining block.

    I have a keen interest in 3D modelling so it was time to bring the school back to life and show the buildings and grounds as they would have been during that 30 year span. 

    Thanks to the kind and knowledgeable members on the Windsor Boys School FB group there were many old photographs and even a floor plan of the entire grounds to use for reference.

    Modelling

    Wire Frame Views

    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model
    WBS Wireframe Model

    Solid Shader Views

    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View
    WBS Solid Shader View

    Renders -

    Testing various vegetation to see what is possible with my computer / graphics card setup.
    Chapel WBS

    Experimental Renders

    Mist, rain, lighting and more types of vegetation.
    Windsor Boys School Rural Studies Building
    Rural Studies Building
    Windsor Boys School Disused Quarters
    Disused Quarters
    Windsor Boys School Main Entrance at night
    Main Entrance Evening

    December 2021

    I put the main project on hold as I wanted to make a winter scene based on the this image I found online showing a sunset.

    Working out the direction of the shot, it was either taken from the fire escape or one of the windows up in Block 5 which was Caernarvon so I went with the window scene and included items from 1979 / 1980.

    You can view the full size version here and this one allows you to zoom in and out and listen to the recorded audio track of 'Sounds Like Sunday' on the BFBS Radio show.

    View Full Size
    Winter view from Caernarvon dorm window, WBS Hamm
    View from Caernarvon dorm window, WBS Hamm

    Virtual Tour

    I'd like to present the school grounds using VR headsets as they are so immersive and you would feel like your actually back at WBS but as of December 2021 there are currently no affordable VR headsets capable of displaying convicing photographic images in high resolution so may have to wait another year for that to happen when / if the resolutiion improves. For now, it's 360's on the web and here's three if you would like to take a look and get a rough idea of what to expect.

    These shots are early stages in the modelling and texturing. There will be many changes before the final renders are created.

    View 360s
    360 degree images of WBS Hamm
    Cicada Studio

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